Catherine, Anders and others have already seen a train that they have never seen before. It is not only powerful, but also stable. In short, it is more powerful than any train in the world. With this foundation, you will no longer be so surprised when you see strange things.
For example, after the sky darkened, the lights suddenly turned on in the carriage. This kind of thing that lights up without any lighting makes them feel comfortable when dining in the restaurant and drinking tea and chatting afterwards.
To be honest, later on, even though they rested, both Catherine and Anders could not fall asleep for a long time!
Especially Anders, he was sure that when he was in the East, the Ming Empire definitely did not have these things. However, we have only been away for a few years, and the changes in Ming Dynasty are so great!
The most important thing is that the changes in the Ming Dynasty are the kind that benefit the country and the people, rather than the kind where princes and noble ladies spend their days drinking, eating and having fun.
It has to be said that Anders has indeed traveled thousands of miles and has experienced a lot. Through these things, he came to the conclusion at once that the next world will be the Ming Empire! It is definitely a blessing for Portugal to become a brotherly state with the Ming Empire.
However, this thigh relationship is too unstable!
After thinking for a long time, Anders made up his mind. He immediately dressed up and came to Catherine's carriage to ask for an audience.
It happened that Catherine couldn't sleep either, so she heard Anders asking for an audience, so she met him in half of the carriage that resembled a living room.
As soon as she saw Anders, Catherine couldn't help but said excitedly: "The Ming Empire is so surprising. Is that why you can't sleep?"
Anders looked at her look and nodded, but his face was a little serious and he said: "Your Royal Highness, I wonder if His Royal Highness the King has anything to tell you before leaving?"
There seemed to be something wrong with the atmosphere. When Catherine saw it, she put down her excited expression and said seriously: "My father said that this trip to the East is related to Portugal's national destiny and the future world structure, so I have to listen to you in everything." .”
Anders nodded after hearing this, then took out something from his arms, presented it to Catherine with both hands, and said, "This is His Majesty the King's secret order. Let me act according to the situation and see if it can be given to His Royal Highness the Princess."
Upon hearing this, Catherine knew that it must be something of great importance, so she quickly stretched out her hands and took it respectfully, and then looked at it under the light of the electric light.
It was okay not to look at it, but when she looked at it, she froze there.
Catherine never expected that in this secret decree, João IV asked her to marry the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in order to enhance the close relationship between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty and ensure that Portugal and the Ming Empire would always be on the same warship in the future. Dominate the world.
In the letter, John IV said that Portugal was currently in a difficult situation and the Ming Empire was extremely powerful. This time Anders came to the Far East to carry out all-round cooperation on behalf of John IV and the Ming Empire. If it is just a covenant between brothers, it is not appropriate.
Among the children of João IV, the eldest son will inherit the throne and cannot come to the Far East to be a hostage. For now, she is not qualified to ask the Ming Empire to marry a princess or anything. The second child is the eldest daughter Joanna. She is frail and sick and will definitely not be able to travel to the Ming Empire. She is even worried that she may not live for a few years. Only Catherine was about the same age and could take on the important task of building a good relationship with the Ming Empire.
Therefore, the future of Portugal depends on Catherine.
After Catherine was stunned for a long time, she put away the secret order and said calmly to Anders, who was a little nervous: "Everything is all arranged by the father!"
When Anders heard this, he couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
You know, among the children of Joao IV, Catherine has always been the independent one. And if Catherine doesn't cooperate with this kind of thing, no one can do anything about it.
As for the age issue, it's actually not an issue.
In Europe, the Holy See stipulates that the legal age for marriage for women is twelve years old. Therefore, it is not uncommon for girls of twelve or thirteen to end up marrying men in their forties or fifties.
As for the East, Anders actually had some experience with it, and there were many people getting married at the age of thirteen.
At this time, while Anders breathed a sigh of relief, he smiled and said: "His Royal Highness the King explained that all the goods and gifts accompanying this trip are the dowry of His Royal Highness the Princess. In addition to this, there are also those in Colombo and Mumbai. In both places, Her Royal Highness the Princess's dowry will also be given to His Majesty the Ming Emperor. In this way, it will be better to win a better title for Her Royal Highness the Princess."
"Queen?" Catherine couldn't help but ask after hearing this.
When Anders heard this, he could not help but curl his lips slightly, and immediately shook his head and said: "Your Highness, this Far Eastern empire has strict legal laws since ancient times, and the position of queen is impossible. The best title that Your Highness can obtain is that of noble concubine. .”
"Are you your lover?" Catherine couldn't help but ask after hearing this, with a bit of dissatisfaction in her words.
After hearing this, Anders couldn't help but decide to explain the customs and rules of the Ming Empire to Catherine carefully, so as not to inadvertently make any mistakes.
So, he explained to Catherine the three palaces and six courtyards of his Far Eastern empire, which were absolutely different from the mistresses in the West.
Balabala talked a lot, and at the end, Anders's face became more serious, and he said to Catherine very seriously: "There is also a very important point. The Ming Emperor has regulations. No matter what sect, if you want to come to If you come from the Ming Dynasty, you must be under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty officials, and the content of the teachings must be reviewed by the Ming Dynasty officials, and the purpose is to guide people to do good, and nothing else."
Portugal is Catholic, and Catherine is no exception. When I heard this, I couldn't help but frown.
When Anders saw it, he couldn't help but add: "All the priests from the West had offended the Ming Emperor because of this, and everyone was expelled. The Pope either compromised or launched another crusade. But , Ming Dynasty is really too far away from Europe, this is unrealistic."
"Why didn't I know?" Catherine frowned and asked when she saw it.
After hearing this, Anders couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "This is not a decent thing. It's best that as few people in Europe know about it as possible."
Seeing that Catherine was silent after hearing this, Anders said to her again: "Where we are, the divine power is higher than the secular kingship. But in the East, since ancient times, the secular kingship has been above everything else."
In fact, even in Europe, the royal families of various countries are actually striving for power and do not want to be overwhelmed by theocratic power. As the daughter of the King of Portugal, Catherine knew a little bit about it even though she was young.
After hearing this, Catherine still didn't speak. She just lowered her head, probably thinking about something.
When Anders saw it, he realized that he had told Catherine too much and she needed to think about it, which was reasonable. Therefore, he just waited quietly on the side.
After a long while, Catherine raised her head, her face became a little calmer, and asked: "Is there anything else I need to pay attention to?"
Listening to her words means accepting everything just said. Anders couldn't help but feel overjoyed when he got this conclusion, and quickly said to her: "The eldest son of the Queen of the Ming Kingdom is the prince of the Ming Kingdom and will inherit the throne in the future. Moreover, the Queen is also the master of the palace, so you must remember Stay here and don’t conflict with the queen. If possible, don’t conflict with other emperors’ concubines..."
Although she had been explaining a lot, Catherine's expression was always very calm, which made Anders feel a little uneasy again.
When Catherine saw it, she smiled lightly and said, "I actually have no choice, right? In that case, don't worry about me!"
It really didn't look like she was only thirteen years old. Anders couldn't help but sigh in his heart, so he left without disturbing Catherine's rest.
Catherine sat by herself for a long time, and even played with the electric light, turning it on and off, very attentively.
After a long time, Catherine went back to rest.
The next day, after having breakfast on the train, it turned out that just as the Ming officials said, we had really obtained the capital of the Ming Empire.
After getting off the train outside the city, Catherine was surprised again when she looked at the tall city wall in the distance. It looked as if she had just landed in Tianjin.
What Fang Yizhi didn't expect was that when he was about to get off the train, Anders formally proposed marriage to him, that is, to marry the Portuguese princess to Emperor Chongzhen.
Fang Yizhi didn't know about this before. He can't make the decision on this kind of thing. So, while settling the Portuguese and his party, he immediately flew to the palace to report.
In fact, Emperor Chongzhen had known about it through the Class A eavesdropping seeds in Anders' body long before Anders and others set out, so it was not surprising at all.
If we say that he wanted to marry Princess Daming in order to hug someone else's lap, then Emperor Chongzhen would definitely not be able to do it. But now, Portugal wants to do this, and it is clearly a political marriage, so he will handle it in a political way.
It must be said that Emperor Chongzhen was very interested in the two Portuguese colonies of Colombo and Bombay. Naturally, he didn't know that if the original historical development was followed, when Catherine married Charles II of England, the dowry was 800,000 pounds and the Portuguese colony of Bombay in India. There was also the Anglo-Portuguese alliance that lasted for more than two hundred years, which allowed Britain to use Portuguese Macau to trade tea with the Manchus after 1685.
It can be said that the dowry is very generous.
Now, not to mention the shipload of gifts brought by the train, there are only two Portuguese colonies in Colombo and Bombay. If the Ming Dynasty can accept it, its power can expand to the west side of the Indian Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula. This goal is very close.
For the Portuguese, the power of the Ming Empire is one step closer to the Mediterranean, and it will be easier for Portugal to take over the mainland.
Miaoshuwu
